SANAA, Yemen, March 31 (UPI) -- Yemeni police have arrested two al-Qaida suspects, who killed a Yemeni police officer durng an escape attempt in the southern province of Abyan.
A police source in Aden said Monday the men admitted being members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.
The men were questioned following a routine road check by police which led to the discovery of bombs and other explosives in their minibus, Yemeni newspaper Al-Ayyam reported.
While they were being transferred to police headquarters in Abyan, east of Aden, the men managed to fire shots at the two policemen accompanying them using concealed firearms. They killed one officer before fleeing, the newspaper reported.
Security forces later recaptured the men, "who said they belonged to al-Qaida," the paper said.
"The two men admitted they were members of al-Qaida, after their arrest Saturday in the Abyan province," east of Aden, the south's largest city, said the source, who asked not to be named.
In early March, Yemeni authorities arrested several men in Aden who were implicated in the attack on the USS Cole in October 2000 and accused of being al-Qaida members, a source close to some of the suspects said.
The suicide attack on the U.S. destroyer at the port of Aden killed 17 sailors and wounded 38.
